26 January 2012: The World Bank approved a US$70.3 million loan to improve water services in the state of Sergipe, Brazil, as part of a project to decrease pollution, improve sanitation, promote a more efficient agricultural system and protect watersheds.

The Sergipe Water Project will implement measures to increase the number of household sanitation connections along the Sergipe water basin, and to improve the efficiency of water use for irrigation, as well as water quality and soil conservation on farmlands.

The Sergipe river basin, home to more than one million people, is the most polluted of the state. The project will also work to reduce the yearly wastewater discharges of biochemical oxygen demand pollutants, and aims to expand and maintain environmental conservation areas to protect biodiversity in the region. [World Bank Press Release]